Carry bag



Feb. 12, 1957 A. soFFA 2,781,162

- CARRY BAG Filed May 15, 1953 FIG. I.

Huummuummlunumwmnmummmunmm FIG. 3.

' INVENTOR; I

ALBERT SOFFA mm-mh ATTORNEYS United States CARRY BAG Application May 15, 1953, Serial No. 355,285

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-68) This invention relates to an improvement in bags and, more particularly, to that type of bag generally known as a carry bag.

Carry bags of the type to which this invention relates are generally provided with a front panel, a rear panel, a closure flap adapted to close the open end of the bag and hand openings whereby the user may grip the bag in order to carry the bag. Bags of this type are generally provided with reinforcing patches which are attached to the interiors of the front and rear panels and through which the hand openings are cut.

In bags of the type referred to, the hand openings are generally cut by means of a die after the patch has been applied to the bag panel. The bags produced by these conventional methods have hand openings which are bounded by sharp edges and it frequently happens that, as a result of these sharp edges, the person closing the bag and thereafter carrying the bag receives small cuts from the sharp edges of the finger opening.

It is the object of this invention to provide a bag which will have finger openings of such a nature as to make it substantially impossible for the user of the bag to be injured thereby.

Having now indicated in a general way the nature and purpose of this invention I will proceed to a detailed description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of bag to which the invention may be applied;

Figure 2 is an enlarged showing of a fragmentary portion of a bag such as the bag shown in Figure 1 to which one form of the present invention has been applied;

Figure 3 is an enlarged showing of a fragmentary portion of a bag such as the bag shown in Figure l to which another form of the present invention has been applied;

Figure 4 is an enlarged showing of a fragmentary portion of a bag such as the bag shown in Figure 1 to which still another form of the present invention has been applied;

Figure 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary portion of one form of edging which may be employed around the hand opening in accordance with this invention; and

Figure 6 is a showing of an alternate form of edging from that shown in Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a conventional type of bag including a rear panel 2 and a front panel 4 which are joined together along their sides and bottom and are open at their upper ends, as indicated generally at 6, and provide an opening for the bag. The front panel 4 of the bag is provided with an extended flap 8 which is adapted to be closed over the top of the bag in order to close the bag. The rear panel 2 of the bag is provided with a hand or finger cutout opening 10 and the front panel 4 of the bag is provided with a cutout 12. The cutouts 10 and 12 are in alignment with each other and provide for the passage of the fingers or the hand of the user in order that he may conveniently carry the bag. Reinforcing patches 14 and 16 are applied to the rear and "ice front panels of the bag, respectively, and serve to reinforce the hand cutout openings therein. The flap 8 is provided with a tongue 18 which is adapted to be folded through the finger openings 10 and 12 in order to lock the bag in carrying position and to provide a rounded upper edge of the finger cutout openings which rests upon the fingers of the user when he is carrying the bag.

In the conventionally produced bags, these finger openings are cut out by means of a suitable cutting die. Thus there is generally produced a sharp paper edge which, as is well known, can give rise to serious injury.

In Figure 2 there is shown a fragmentary portion of a bag panel 20 having attached thereto a reinforcing patch 22 and having a finger opening 24 extending through the bag panel 20 and the reinforcing patch 22 thereon. The edge 26 of the finger opening is of serrated form. Thus the existence of a sharp hard sheared edge of paper around the finger opening is avoided. Serrated edges, such as those shown in Figures 5 and 6, are particularly desirable.

Figure 5 shows a portion of a bag panel 28 having died cutouts 30 which, it will be evident, are merely half of circular cutouts which were made in the web from which the bag was formed and in the reinforcing patch thereon. The edges 32 are shown as being soft, fibrous or fuzzy edges. These are torn edges which were torn by tension loading when the chip or plug bag material was removed to provide the finger opening. Thus it is noted that in the preferable form the serrated edge of the finger opening is not a cut serration but rather is a serrated edge which, along its outermost surfaces, is a dull torn edge in which the line of tearing was determined by a plurality of spaced cutouts providing the edges 30.

In Figure 6 an alternate form of serrated edge is shown in which a panel 34 and the patch thereon are provided with spaced square cuts 36 and the material between the cuts has been torn apart to provide at 38 a soft dull edge identical to that provided at 32 in Figure 5.

In Figure 3 there is shown a modification of the invention in which a bag panel 40 has attached thereto a reinforcing patch 44 by means of a layer of paste 46. It will be evident that in place of paste any suitable gum or cement or other adhesive or cohesive material may be employed. Hereinafter, in this disclosure, when the word paste is employed, it will be evident that it is used in a generic sense and it is intended that it should include any suitable paste, gum, cement or any other adhesive or cohesive material.

In the modification of the invention shown in Figure 3, the paste 46 does not extend to the edge of the finger opening 50. The edges of the panel 40 and the reinforcing patch 44 forming the edge 52 of the finger opening 59 are serrated and are preferably serrated in a form similar to those described in conjunction with Figures 5 and 6. In this modification of the invention, however, advantage is obtained not only by the serrations but also by virtue of the fact that the paste layer does not extend to the edge of the finger opening and thus small amounts of paste cannot form incrustations around the finger opening serving to harden the edges of the paper forming the finger opening or serving to provide by themselves sharp edges which form a hazard to the user. It will be evident that the recessed paste line shown in Figure 3 may be employed to advantage even though serrated finger opening edges are not employed.

Still another aspect of the invention is shown in Fig ure 4 in which a bag panel 54 is provided with a reinforcing patch 56 which is spaced away from a finger opening 60 as indicated at 58. In this form of the invention the bag panel edge forming the edge of the finger opening 60 will be serrated, as indicated at 62, whereas the edge 64 of the opening in the reinforcing panel is not serrated because of its position removed from the V serrated edge 62 of the panel 54. In this-form of the invention, as in the previously described forms, atype of serration, such as that shown in Figures 5 and 6, 'is preferred.

The form of the invention shown in Figure 4 has both the advantage of a serrated edge and the advantage of the recessed paste line. In addition to these advantages, the recessed Outline of the hand hole opening in the patch with generally radiused corners avoids stress concentration which is present in the type of structure shown in Figure 2. It is additionally noted that the recessed finger opening in the reinforcing patch allows for some slight misalignment in the location of the reinforcing patch with respect to the finger opening inthe bag panel without affecting the appearance of the finished bag structure.

With some types of material it may be desirable that the upper corners of the finger openings be of rounded form having considerable radius in which the serrations are omitted in order to reduce to a minimum the existence edges. In bags of the type shown in Figure 1 where the 7 locking flap is passed throughthe finger opening, it is not always necessary to serrate the upper edges of the finger opening although it is desirably done to avoid the possibility of the user being injured by the sharp finger opening while loading the bag and while closing the top of the bag.

In some bags a reinforcing patch is provided on only one of the bag panels. In a bag of this type the reinforced finger opening may be of any of the types shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 and the unreinforced finger opening may be partially or totally serrated in the absence of a reinforcing patch.

It will be evident that a bag assembly could be made in which the lower edge of one of the finger openings was positioned somewhat below the lower edge of the adjacent finger opening and, in this instance, if only the higher of the two edges were serrated, protection would be afforded for the users fingers while the bag was being carried. It will be evident, however, that this represents a far less desirable form of bag than one in which the finger openings are formed to be in alignment with each other and in which the entire circumference of the finger opening is serrated. It is additionally noted that this use of serrations affords very little protection to the user while loading the bag. a

What is claimed is:

1. A bag including connected, front and back panels separated at theirupper ends to form an opening for the bag, said front and back panels being formed with apertures spaced from the upper end of the bag to provide finger openings by which the bag may be carried, and a reinforcing patch attached to at least: one of said front and back panels, surrounding said finger opening therein and spaced therefrom, all of the edges of the finger openings exposed to the users fingers being of serrated form.

2. A bag including connected front and back panels separated at their upper ends to form an opening for the bag, said front and back panels being formed with apertures spaced from the upper end of the bag to provide finger openings by which the bag may be carried, a reinforcing patch pasted topat least one of said front and back panels and surrounding said finger opening therein, the paste securing the patch to the panel terminating at lines spaced from the edges of the finger opening in the panel, and at least the lower edge of the finger opening and the edge of the reinforcing patch associated therewith being 'of serrated form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS.

1,265,475 Miller May 7, 1918 2,132,669 Wolf Oct. 11, 1938 2,234,180 Lackey et a1 Mar, 11, 1941 2,239,856 Poppe Apr. 29, 1941 2,268,906 Scheer Jan. 6, 1942 2,543,821 Arneson Mar. 6, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 454,113 Great Britain Sept. 27, 1936 

